Power Rangers Paleo Strike
by 12disneyhater
Summary: A fanfictional adaptation of Kyoryuger I'm making. All the info is in the story! (Note: Series name is taken from another fan's adaptation on RangerBoard, so credit goes to him/her)
1. Introduction

INTRO:

Adapted from _Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger. _Actors are chosen to what I see fits, and the story is original since the Sentai is still airing. Each chapter represents one episode.

SYNOPSIS:

When the Dino Gems were sacrificed by the Dino Rangers many years ago, former ranger Adam Park discovered their remnants and experimented with them in order to squeeze out the last bit of power left inside of them. Once he had figured it out, he created new ranger powers just in case a threat came around. When the evil Cambrian Alliance threatened the earth, he knew it was time to recruit a new team of rangers to defend the planet: the Power Rangers Paleo Strike!

STORY NOTES:

My goal with _Paleo Strike _is to make a season that is very character-driven, a little deeper than usual, and very progressive. Every character is unique in their own way, and have more of a backstory than most other rangers in the franchise. It will still contain the signature Rangers elements, but it will also contain emotion, a slightly greater focus on the rangers' normal lives, more human villains, and a few much darker elements. I really put my time and heart into this, and I would be okay with constructive criticism to see what I'm doing wrong.

MAIN RANGERS:

Lewis Hamilton (Red Ranger), played by Kyle Kaplan

Lewis is a young man with one goal in life: to make a name for himself. He was always the underdog when growing up, being an outsider who never cared much for socializing with people, which led him to be a frequent victim of bullying in high school. Despite this, he was a very smart kid, although he used his intelligence for his personal reasons rather than strong academic performance, in turn leading people to believe he wasn't as capable as he really was. Lewis was a grad student studying to become a paleontologist before becoming a ranger. He often uses his spare time continuing to expand his knowledge of dinosaurs, which helps out his team members on certain missions. He is 23 years old, making him the second oldest main member of the team.

Although he is a bit of an introvert, Lewis is always willing to accept a challenge when the situation calls for it, as well as interact and negotiate with others, both in and out of his team. He sometimes can come off as cold due to his independence, especially when he first began his tenure as Red Ranger, because he didn't know how to cope with being a hero at first nor interact with his teammates properly. But beneath his independent personality, he proves to be empathetic, brash, dependable, courageous, and a strong leader as he gets to know his fellow rangers better. He also has a sense of humor, and can be very funny at times.

Unlike most other Red Rangers, Lewis is not the hotshot, eye candy, and/or considered superior to the rest of the team. Lewis' character takes a more fleshed out, less shallow, less flat, funnier, more unique approach to the role of the Red Ranger. But I can't give away too much; you'll have to read for yourself.

Chris Granger (Blue Ranger), played by Rick Gonzalez

Although Chris is a man of few words, he is definitely a man with experience. Before he became a ranger, Chris came from a poor family growing up. He lived in a very low-class neighborhood and wasn't very well-educated as a kid. But he was always open and willing to step out of his comfort zone, which in turn lead to him discovering new possibilities for him. When he was called upon to be a ranger, he immediately accepted his role as second-in-command. At age 26, he is the oldest member of the team.

Because of his age and experience, he often serves as the team's key strategist. Despite his many strengths, one of his weaknesses is his over-analysis; he is able to find the negative in just about anything, and rarely steps forward in a situation without closely analyzing whoever he sees is behind it. This sometimes leads to him getting carried away with his plans, leaving his fellow rangers powerless in his strategy. But as a whole, Chris is a confident, suave, personable guy who would do anything for his fellow rangers.

Chris is a different type of character than many other Blue Rangers, partially because he carries the characteristics of a mentor without actually being a mentor. In order to learn more about Chris, stay tuned!

Reese O'Brien (Green Ranger), played by Chase Ellison

Reese is a kid who has always dreamed of being a superhero. Before he became a ranger, he had no idea that they existed, and initially refused to believe the situation he was placed in. Unlike the rest of the rangers save for Valerie, he is not yet an adult and has very little experience in the world. He is 16 years old, making him the youngest member of the team. Reese is a skateboarder and an avid video gamer, and knows quite a bit about technology.

Reese is considered to be the "kid" of the team due to his youth, and constantly feels the need to prove himself to feel like he belongs. He is often blind to see his own immaturity, and often gets in the way of Parker on and off the battlefield (the reason why will be revealed in the story). Despite his youth, Reese is very intellectual and analytical beneath his occasional cockiness and ignorance. Eventually, however, he grows to become a more reasonable and mature person.

Reese goes through development and growth unlike any other Green in the franchise. I think a lot of younger readers will be able to relate to Reese, and he is one of the characters I am most proud of creating.

Parker Chen-Reed (Black Ranger), played by Osric Chau

Parker is a 20-year-old college student who has not quite chosen his path in life yet, exploring different subjects to major in and roads to wander. He was born to an immigrant Chinese-Filipino mother and a Floridian father, but unfortunately, he never met either of them; both of his parents were very young when he was born, and they didn't think they could handle raising a child, so they ended up putting him up for adoption. Until he became a ranger, he didn't know about his real parents, and, feeling betrayed, he eventually tries to track them down and discover their fate. Growing up, Parker felt very isolated despite being a well-liked kid in school, because he never found his life to be interesting, and always felt like he was going nowhere, like something was missing. Parker is a guitar player and singer, and he eventually develops a friendship with Valerie over their common interest.

Parker is tense, protective, and uptight at times, but deep down, he's actually one of the most caring and well-rounded members of the team. Because of his situation with his parents and his various difficulties finding his purpose, he is the most troubled member of the team and has much more on his plate than one can expect from a ranger. He develops a friendship with the younger members of the team overtime.

I didn't go into to much detail about Parker because of how much of a mystery he proves to be. With his troubled past and uncertain future, he is a character that is rarely found in a Black Ranger. I will expand upon him as the story progresses, because Parker is one of the most recent characters I've made.

Valerie Johns (Pink Ranger), played by Carleigh Beverly

Valerie, in some ways, is your every-day 17-year-old girl. She loves to hang out with her girlfriends, has to worry about her schoolwork, gets caught up in drama sometimes, and has a hard time waking up in the morning. She loves music, and plays drums in a metal/hard rock band, though she loves to listen to music as well as play it. While she loves playing in her band, she has always felt really lonely because she doesn't have any friends in her band, and she doesn't know anyone at her school who loves music as much as she does.

Valerie is just as beautiful a person on the inside as she is on the outside, but she has a tough side that she unleashes when she's threatened, annoyed, or in command. She often has a hard time expressing herself, and can get very emotional, lost, and insecure when she isn't able to let her feelings out in her music. After she becomes a ranger, she finds a good friend in Parker, not only due to their both being into music, but because of their similar situations and personalities. She is able to find the positive in most people she meets, no matter how much she may dislike them at times.

Valerie is personally my favorite character that I've created, mainly because I love the actress I picked for her so much. She goes through a lot compared to almost every other female ranger, and I hope the readers will enjoy her emotional, action-packed journey as a Pink Ranger; there is no character I am more proud of than her.

EXTRA NOTES:

Soon, you will all be treated to the first episode of Paleo Strike. 3 parts (or chapters), one part coming every week or so. I'm sorry if my character descriptions were too long, too short, or not good enough, but I really don't want to give anything away.

Also, before you start to rant about how the actors I picked (especially Gonzalez) are "too good" or "not fit" for Power Rangers, allow me to explain why I picked them. I am sick of the Rangers casting formula. I need some variation, and instead of the typical early-twenties-ish model-looking motherfuckers playing the male rangers, I wanted to have some actors who went against that stereotype. Rick Gonzalez is a man who can do whatever, and for some reason I think he'll do good as a ranger. So just go with it, purists.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this introduction, first part of the "premiere" coming soon!


	2. Strike of the Beast, Part 1

"Hi-ya! Ha!"

Former Power Ranger Adam Park was busy performing his nightly martial arts exercises. Even though he had not been an active ranger since the Sentinel Knight called upon him to help the Overdrive Rangers, it didn't hurt for him to practice his techniques. After he had completed his mission on that day six years ago, he decided to live a normal lifestyle. He returned to Angel Grove and opened a dojo, which proved to be very popular among youths wanting to learn self-defense. Adam was more than satisfied with his students' performance and progress the first year, so he eventually opened another one on the city's local college campus. He felt that many young men and women those days were not handling their problems properly, and he believed that performing martial arts would allow them to let off some steam and focus on their studies better. A few years later, he shut down his first dojo and expanded the size of his second, allowing it to be open to all ages while still keeping it on the college location. He figured it would save him time, as it sometimes got tiring for him to run two different dojos while still getting to live his life.

As Adam finished his warm-up, he began to reminisce about his days on the battlefield. He remembered how he had felt when he first became the Black Ranger, the way that he absorbed the power coursing through his veins from Zack. He thought of how much he learned and how much he had grown as an individual both as a fighter and as a person, from facing hoards of Putties by himself to comprehending how to boost his confidence. He remembered how he got through every hardship thrown at him; the destruction of the Thunderzords, the deterioration of the Command Center, risking his life to help Carlos, you name it, Adam managed to make it through it all and he was still here. Even walking away from assisting Operation Overdrive, he knew he couldn't escape the power forever.

Soon after, Adam closed up shop, packed his gear, and began to drive home. The moment he entered his car, his phone rang.

"Hello?", he answered. A familiar, deep voice was on the other end.

"Adam! This is Tommy! How you been, man? We definitely need to catch up."

"Tommy! Actually, I just closed the dojo and I'm about to drive back home. It's not that I don't wanna talk, because I sure do, but I really can't talk and drive at the same time. I'll call you back as soon as I get there."

"Sure thing, man."

* * *

Adam arrived at his house and set his bags on his living room couch. His house was relatively large, featuring three floors, four bathrooms, a living room, two dining rooms, a kitchen, five bedrooms, and a basement. He grabbed a snack from the kitchen, took off his shoes, and went to his bedroom. In his room, Adam kept a cabinet which contained all of his old ranger stuff. In a class case contained his Power Morpher, Zeonizer, and Turbo Morpher. A plastic coin case contained his repaired Mastodon coin from the Sentinel Knight, as well as a silver replica of his destroyed Frog ninja coin. It had been weeks since Adam looked in the cabinet, but because of his memories from earlier that night, he had urged himself to open it and almost forgot to call back Tommy. He dialed Tommy's number, and their conversation picked up immediately where it left off.

"Hello?", Tommy said on the other end.

"Told you I'd call back. Anyways, I heard that you resumed ranger duties a few years back, this time in black. Way to make my former color look flashy, buddy.", exclaimed Adam somewhat sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's true. But it's kind of a long story as to why I did so. You see, there was a new threat that emerged based on my creations with Dr. Anton Mercer, and..." Tommy continued to tell the story of the Dino Rangers, and Adam was kept interested the entire time. When he finished, Adam had nothing but questions.

"Wait a minute. So you sacrificed your zords _again_? Couldn't you have used a different battle tactic?"

"We had no choice. It was the only way we could permanently get rid of Zeltrax. Yeah, yeah, I know I've done stupid things with my zords in the past, but this time I swear there was a real reason for it."

"Okay, whatever you say. But that's not quite what I was most curious about. Did Trent ever, even in the slightest, remind you of your Green Ranger days? Billy told me all about that, that's how I know."

"Yeah, about time someone mentioned that..."

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the campus Adam's dojo was located, a young Caucasian man and an even younger Asian-American man were occupied in their dorm room, each doing their own thing. Lewis Hamilton, the older one, was a paleontology major who was currently studying fossils. Parker Chen-Reed, the younger one, was playing his guitar on his bed.

"Parker, would you mind keeping it down a bit? I'm losing focus.", Lewis demanded.

"Dude, I'm not even playing that loud. Do you not appreciate my musical talent?", Parker said.

"No, that isn't it at all..."

"Then what is it?"

"If I've told you once, I've told you a dozen times. I need to study!"

_Here we go again, _Parker thought. He and Lewis had been college roommates for two weeks, and they were each on opposite sides of the spectrum from each other. Lewis had already finished his main college courses, knew exactly what he wanted, and was ready to become a member of society when he got done with school. He was always the goofy kid cracking jokes growing up, and people would always tell him he would amount to nothing. He didn't have too many friends, either, but he didn't care. He still persevered, and was prepared to prove them wrong since day one.

Parker, on the other hand, had only just graduated high school the year before, and had no idea where to go because he never really knew where to start. People really liked him, and he always enjoyed being around his friends, but deep down, he was clueless. He discovered music at a young age when his stepfather gave him a guitar in third grade, but he always thought of it as more of a hobby than something he would pursue as a career. He knew that making it in society was not easy, but he could never give himself the strength to try. Parker signed up for Angel Grove University hoping to find a major, but so far, he was unfortunately going nowhere.

Ever since he became roommates with Lewis, he found it difficult to cope with having somebody around him all the time who was his polar opposite. But it wasn't all his fault, as Lewis got very stubborn and one-track-minded whenever he got focused on something; once he started, he would not stop until all the pieces came together. Parker finally decided that they would not butt heads anymore, so he finally decided to speak up before it got out of hand.

"Listen, Lewis, we're roommates now, and you're gonna have to cope with me being around, whether you like it or not! There's really nothing you can do. Why are you always so intolerant?", he said.

"Because I finally found a program that interests me in the half-decade I've been here, okay? Dinosaurs fascinate me. Growing up, I had been constantly told I'd become a clown. But they were wrong. Since I was in grade school, I've loved prehistoric wildlife. I still remember playing with plastic raptors and stuff in first grade, man, I thought those things were the coolest! All my life, I have searched for an opportunity to dig deeper into their world, their origins, their lives! They were the dominant creatures before humans existed! And finally, after coming here, I found a way to do just that. Don't you understand how I feel?", Lewis passionately explained. "Just think about it for a second. If you were in my shoes, how would you feel?"

Parker was at a total loss for words. Until that moment, he had known little to nothing about how Lewis really felt about what he was doing. It was then that Parker realized that there was only one way to answer his question.

"To be honest, no. I don't understand how you feel. I'm sorry. I am nothing at all like you. You always knew what you were passionate about doing, I don't know at all and never did. You were able to have fun when you were in school, you didn't care what anybody thought of you! You had a family that supported you and expected the best from you! Me? I don't even _know _my real parents! My stepfather never told me anything! The only thing he ever did for me was give me this guitar. I'm completely clueless about my past, and because of that, I grew up indecisive and I completely shunned myself from the people who cared about me! Don't get it? Let me put it in layman's terms for ya. You had everything and people hated you for it. I had _nothing _and people loved me for it."

This time, it was Lewis who couldn't say a word. For quite a bit, each of them felt bad, and stayed silent...

* * *

"...Wait, are you serious? You got frozen in amber and couldn't demorph for a month?", Adam continued.

"The Dino Gem I was bonded to got rearranged, so I couldn't do anything about it. Eventually, some green slime was discovered that Hayley said could turn me back to normal.", Tommy said.

"Did it?"

"Not right away. It turned me invisible for a day or so."

"What happened after that?"

"Hayley developed a machine that could bring me back to my civilian form. But the machine somehow malfunctioned, and I ended up in a coma for hours. Everybody thought I was gonna die, but inside my mind, I was having a really weird dream."

"Wow, that's kind of odd. What happened in the dream?"

"I had to fight all of my past ranger forms except one. I beat Zeo Ranger V and the White Ranger, but the Green Ranger almost killed me. I was barely able to escape from his attacks, and after a while, he had me down on the ground, the Dragon Dagger pointed right at my throat. He told me, 'You know better than anyone how powerful I am. Why don't you just give up the fight?!', and next, I told him that was the one thing I would never do. But the strange thing is that right when he was about to destroy me, he helped me up and told me that I passed a test for my life. My other ranger forms came back and they each gave me a shattered piece of my Dino Gem. After that, I woke up, morphed, and was back in action."

"That's insane! Wow, your post-Angel Grove High life seems much more interesting than mine. But how come you didn't fight the Red Turbo Ranger?"

"Good question. I think that when I passed my powers to T.J., I somehow gave up the burden of the Turbo powers. Thank god, too, because if I had to fight him, I would probably have had no energy to defend myself in the end."

"Makes sense to me! Look, I think I should go soon, I'm getting kinda tired."

"Me, too. Good night, man."

"You, too. But I have one last question."

"Ask away."

"When the Dino Gems were sacrificed, were they completely destroyed or are their remains floating around somewhere?"

"Probably not. The alley where we beat Mesogog had been investigated for a while, but nobody found anything there. If nobody's found anything yet, maybe there's nothing at all. Who knows, though?"

"Thanks for your time."

"Peace."

When Adam hung up the phone and went to bed, he began to think hard about his conversation with Tommy. Hearing about all the adventures that he had with his students made him start to genuinely miss his days as a ranger. The thoughts that came into his head earlier that night were coming back, but this time they were more detailed and stronger than ever before. The question he asked him about the Dino Gems really made him wonder if there actually was anything there. If there was one important thing Adam learned from returning to duty after he retired, it was that nothing disappears, everything is reborn. He began to remember dealing with Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. Even after they were defeated, there was still something left of their legacy, even though it wasn't until he helped the Overdrive Rangers that he found out about their son Thrax.

He decided to travel to Reefside the next day to investigate the area. But he needed help. Help from someone who was good with dinosaur remnants...

* * *

...After a full ten minutes of looking away from each other, Lewis finally spoke, continuing the conversation on a calmer note. "What do you mean by that?", he said hesitantly.

"You say that people didn't expect you to amount to anything, right? Well, since you had a lot to your name, maybe they felt like you were so satisfied with what you had that you didn't need to try in order to get anywhere. But when I was in school, people gave me a lot of attention because they believed I really needed it. They felt bad for me because I had nowhere to go. So because of how different we both were growing up, we haven't been seeing eye to eye because we never really had a chance to get to know each other better.", Parker explained.

As much as he hated to admit it, Lewis knew he was right. Not only that, he knew it wasn't Parker's fault at all. Lewis was always a bit of a loner, and he absolutely hated when people got in his way. He wasn't used to dealing with others, and before he and Parker got a room together, he roomed by himself. Though his family loved him and did a lot for him, he never really did anything to return the favor. Once Parker pointed out his attitude and behavior, he knew there was a lot more to people than he thought, so much he did not know. But how did Parker know his situation?

"You're right. How did you figure it out?", he said.

"Because being able to read people has always been one of my strong points. If there's one thing I've always been able to excel at, that's what it is. Listen, Lewis, I feel as though I've been looking at you the wrong way since we started rooming together. Now that I know a little bit about you, I don't think you seem so bad. We could both learn something from each other.", Parker said sincerely.

After a slight pause, Lewis said, "Same thing with you. I mean, I had no idea you never knew your parents! Sorry about that, that must be really tough, man. When you first moved in and I told you about me a little bit, you know, about my family and stuff, I did so because I wanted to make the first move for once. But you never said much to me at all in return, and I thought maybe you were just ignoring me. But now I know how hard things are for you, so I understand why you didn't want to talk about it. It was hypocritical on my part to believe that, because of how uncaring _I_ come off as sometimes. I think we could learn from each other, too."

"Glad to hear that. Tell you what. Why don't we promise to get along better from now on? I can teach you how to be better socially, and you can teach me how to be better in the world. What do you say?"

Parker held out his hand, signaling that he wanted them to shake on it. With no hesitation, Lewis shook his hand and it was a deal. Afterwards, Lewis began to realize how late it was. He packed up his stuff and went to bed. Parker took his guitar and left the room. He headed to a quiet spot on campus where nobody would be disturbed, and began to strum his guitar while his mind was wandering. Remembering his conversation with Lewis, he stopped playing and looked at it carefully, remembering the day that he got it. He had promised his stepfather he would take great care of it, but he noticed a few severe dents on it. It was as if each dent represented a problem in his life that he needed to find out and fix. He headed back to his room and went to bed. Little did he and Lewis know what would await them the next day...

* * *

When Lewis woke up the next day, he saw a letter was slipped underneath the door to the room. He opened it up and began to read it:

_Dear Lewis,_

_My name is Adam Park. Word on the street is that you are majoring in paleontology. In case you're wondering how I know who you are, I run the dojo near campus, which you've probably seen before, and I asked a student who came by if he knew anybody who was good with fossils and dinosaurs. He mentioned the name "Lewis Hamilton", and I asked him where your address was. I need your help because there may possibly be something buried in the city of Reefside 20 minutes away that could be very dangerous to the world if found in the wrong hands. My studies show that the chances of finding something are very high based on similar circumstances I've been through. This all probably sounds extremely confusing to you, but if you meet me at 2110 Siemers Drive this afternoon, preferably between 1:00 and 5:00, I promise you that I will explain everything. Hope to see you there, this is very important._

_- Adam Park_

"Parker, I think you need to check this out..."

* * *

Later that morning, Adam was sitting at his dining room table, trying to figure out how he was going to properly explain his situation to Lewis. Ever since he retired from ranger duty, he had never opened up to anybody who wasn't associated with the Morphing Grid, let alone somebody he didn't actually know. But he knew nothing about examination of prehistoric objects, was desperate for help, and was almost afraid of what could possibly have been left behind after the destruction of the Dino Gems. He was now sure that something was there. When Adam first ended his time as a Zeo Ranger, the Machine Empire retreated. He and the other rangers thought that their problems with them were over, and for a long time, it seemed they would never be heard from again. But two years before Tommy found the Dino Gems, the Machine Empire returned along with Serpentera, requiring Tommy to recruit ten other Red Rangers to stop them. Combining that fact with Thrax's presence six years ago, Adam knew that anything was possible.

Adam decided to call Tommy again and tell him his realization. Tommy answered on the other end right away.

"Adam! What is it?"

"Okay, so remember that question I asked about the the Dino Gems? Well, I thought about it, and I'm officially convinced there might be something in the area they were destroyed."

"How come?"

"Remember when you gathered all those other Reds to stop the Machine Empire? Let me emphasize that last part for you: _Machine Empire. _We thought they were gone before we got the Turbo powers, remember? But no, they came back. And a while back, Operation Overdrive called me up to help them destroy Thrax. Guess who he was? The son of Rita and Zedd! After the Space Rangers stopped the huge alien invasion and Andros killed Zordon..."

"Zordon's dead? Why didn't anybody tell me that?!"

"Oh, I guess Andros never mentioned that. What was I saying? Oh, right. When Andros killed Zordon, this huge energy wave turned all the villains back to normal people, including Rita and Zedd. So it would seem like their evildoings were bound to be over. Cue 8 years later, and their son is still around. What I'm trying to say is that the possibility of something still being there is much higher than we thought."

"Whoa! When you put it that way, I seem wrong. I think we're starting to get on the same page. What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm planning on traveling to Reefside to the spot where the gems were destroyed, and I'm bringing someone with me, hopefully they'll agree to..."

* * *

"This guy must be insane or something," Parker said after reading the letter. "I mean, he doesn't even know for a fact there's anything _there_! Face it, Lewis, he's scamming you."

"Parker, trust me. You may be good with people, but I really don't think this guy is lying. Besides, this is gonna be a chance for me to show what I can do.", Lewis proudly exclaimed. "Also, he _wrote a letter_, not a voice message or something. How can you tell if he's bluffing if all you know about him is his handwriting?"

"I don't care what he did to say what he said. Think about the fact that this was _out of the blue. _I'm pretty sure you did not see this coming."

"True, but I'm going anyway. The guy runs a dojo on campus, and he told me that in the letter itself, so it's not like he's dangerous or anything."

"Lewis, you told me you agreed that we could learn something from each other. And the first social rule is to not trust some letter you got from a guy you have never even seen before!"

"Not true. I have to pay the bills for this place, and I get letters from the government telling me to do so. I've never seen anyone from the government, but I still trust what the letter says!"

"Very funny."

"If you're so concerned about what happens, why don't you just come with me, then?"

"Good idea."

After getting dressed, Parker and Lewis drove over to the address they read on the letter. Parker, being the socially cautious one, was still questioning Lewis' decision to go through with it. Without ever getting lost, they reached Adam's house in only about 7 minutes. Lewis exited his car, shut it, and slowly approached the front door. He knocked on the door...

* * *

"...Sounds a little risky, Adam. You sure you wanna do that?"

"There's no other choice. I'm seriously worried about it."

Adam heard a knock on his door.

"I think that's him, Tommy. I gotta go."

"Good luck. Tell me how everything turns out in the end. Don't tell me anything until the situation is over. I want to hear everything."

"You will, buddy. I promise. See you whenever."

After he hung up the phone, he slowly approached his front door and opened it. Adam found himself standing face-to-face with, from his perspective, a thin Asian-American guy in his late teens, and a scruffy bearded guy in his early twenties. Both Parker and Lewis were thinking the same thing based on their facial expressions: _When is this guy gonna say something?._ Adam had not expected to see two guys he never met at his house, as he had no idea that Lewis brought his roommate with him, let alone that he had one at all. It took about a minute, but Adam eventually found his voice.

"Which one of you is Lewis Hamilton?", he said.

Lewis raised his head to show he was listening. He found his voice shortly after.

"I am."

"Nice to meet you, Lewis. I'm Adam, as you probably know from the letter. And..who's that kid who's next to you?"

"This is my roommate, Parker. He's...well, he doesn't like to be home alone."

_Yeah, right. Maybe this guy really does have a sense of humor., _Parker thought, though he still kept his mouth shut.

"Well, you two, I'm glad you decided to show up. Come on in.", Adam said.

* * *

Both Lewis and Parker were equally in awe at the sheer size of Adam's house. For a minute, they actually were considering a tour of the house. Adam led them to his living room, and began to talk to Lewis about what was going on. Parker remained silent.

"Lewis, you're probably wondering why I brought you here.", Adam said.

"You don't say?", Lewis said humorously.

"Umm...I'll take that as a 'yes'. Although I don't know 100% if there is anything in Reefside, I need you so I can identify whatever I find. Like I said in the letter, I know that you are very knowledgeable in paleontology, is that correct?"

"Yes, you're right. But...what exactly is so important that you are trying to find? Why are you trying to look for it?"

This question was exactly what Adam was not prepared to answer. How would he convince an average grad student and a college freshman that he was a former Power Ranger and that one of his teammates' final battles involved a sacrifice of their powers and he wanted to see if anything was left? If he proved it, his identity would be at stake. If he didn't prove it and explained it anyway, Parker would be correct in thinking he was crazy, though Adam obviously didn't know that he said that. He remained in a thought process for a while.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. It's a really long story, Lewis."

"Try me."

Just when Adam was about to open his mouth to speak, he changed his mind. He decided that with no proof that he was serious, Lewis would be useless to him. After all, since he wasn't a ranger anymore, it's not like anyone would believe whoever said he used to be one, anyway. Adam remained quiet for a few seconds, and finally settled on a way to explain things to Lewis. Parker was currently having no doubts that Adam was not being legit, and still had no urge to say anything.

"Follow me."

With that, Adam led them to his bedroom and did what he never thought he would ever do; he publicly exposed the contents of his cabinet.

* * *

At this moment, Lewis and Parker were completely shocked. Right in front of them were what remained of their childhood heroes, the Power Rangers. Aside from his old morphers and Power Coins, Adam also kept photos with the team, his Blade Blaster, Power Axe, Zeo Power Hatchets, Zeo Pistol, Turbo Thunder Cannon, and Auto Blaster. He even had a photo with the Operation Overdrive team and his fellow veteran teammates, which was taken by Kira Ford, the Yellow Dino Ranger.

"You...you...you were a Power Ranger?", Lewis asked. "I don't believe it! I still remember those guys! I had no clue you were one of them! Wow! Parker, we have a superhero working on our campus! Hey, check out the guns! Adam, can I shoot..."

_Great..._, Adam thought. _Maybe this wasn't a good idea..._

"Whoa, settle down, Lewis!", he said. "Did you forget what I brought you here for? Oh, and Parker, don't touch my morphers."

Parker let go of the Zeonizer.

"Sorry, I just can't believe you used to be a Power Ranger! Is that why you thought I wouldn't believe the reason you wanted me? Is it linked to that?", Lewis asked.

"Lewis, listen to me. I know that me being a former ranger is quite a bit to take in, but it isn't fun and games that I need you for."

Lewis and Parker both shut their mouths and took a seat on his bed. Adam continued.

"Years ago, my former teammate Tommy Oliver..."

"What color was he?", Parker asked.

"Green, white, red, and black, but that's not..."

"At the same time?", Lewis exclaimed.

"No! He was green, _then _white, then red...whatever, you get it right? Geez, you're acting like children. Now, are you ready to listen to me or not?"

"Yes.", Lewis said.

"Okay, good. Anyways, Tommy found powered crystals hidden on an island. They were called Dino Gems. Each one contained the remains of dinosaur DNA, a different dinosaur for each color. There was a red one, a yellow one, a blue one, a black one, and a white one. The hosts didn't choose the gems, the gems chose the host. Three teens found them and used them to become the Power Rangers Dino Thunder. Tommy bonded to the black one, and another teen named Trent bonded to the white one. Originally, the white one was corrupted with pure evil, making its host violent and always looking for a fight. In other words, these gems were very powerful towards their hosts. Mesogog, the sinister alter ego of Tommy's former partner Anton Mercer, wanted to obtain the gems to use them to reverse the entire world back to the age of dinosaurs. But in order to destroy him, Tommy and his teammates needed to sacrifice their powers by using all the energy in the gems. The result was violent, and ever since the incident, the area of town where the fight occurred has rarely been trespassed. People have tried searching, but they never found anything."

"But what does that have to do with Lewis?", Parker asked.

"Like I said in the letter, I think there actually might be something there in the area. While I had prehistoric-based powers at one point, I don't know about investigating fossils or anything like that. Since I found out Lewis was becoming a paleontologist, I wanted to see if he could help me out. We don't know what's there, and being a part of the ranger community, I feel like I need to know."

All doubts Parker had about Adam were finally gone. He was now willing to aid Lewis in his deed, still finding it really cool that a former Power Ranger asked him to do something critical to the world for him.

"So, Lewis, will you do it?", Adam concluded.

"Of course I will. This is awesome!"

"Oh, and one more thing. Nothing I said about me being a ranger should _ever _be shared with anybody, got it?"

* * *

Adam got directions to the alley where Mesogog was destroyed. Lewis and Parker followed Adam in their car in order to reach their destination. Although it had only been a day since they finally made peace, Lewis already began to appreciate Parker more. It wasn't a huge step, but a noticeable change nevertheless. The fact that he stuck with him to make sure Adam was sane was a little bit overboard to him, but Lewis still felt like he was just trying to protect him. After all, by doing so, they found out they both were fascinated by Power Rangers.

"Man, if I had known Adam was a ranger, I would have gone to the dojo months ago!", Parker said.

"But do you really think he would expose the fact he used to run around in spandex as a young man? That's embarrassing. Nobody would know anyway.", Lewis playfully argued.

"Aww, come on! You were definitely in awe as much as I was! You interrupted him about the pretty colors they wear!"

"So did you! You continued right after me!"

Suddenly, both of them chuckled, and then entered silence. But it was a peaceful silence, not a fearful or awkward silence. For the first time since Parker moved in with Lewis, they were actually getting along. It felt pretty good, too, at least for Lewis. He felt like he was finally starting to find a friend in someone. After Adam turned past a sign that said "You Are Now Entering Reefside", he kept going straight until they made it into town. They stopped about half a block away from the local high school, which was where the alley was. "Looks like this is it," Adam said.

When they exited their cars, they crept around the building they stopped in front of, and were stunned at the sight they saw. The entire area was torn to bits. Cars were destructed, the bits of road terribly cracked, torn pieces of rubble were everywhere, and not a single object didn't look as though it exploded. It looked like a nuclear bomb had hit the place.

"What the heck happened here?", Parker asked. "All those years since Mesogog's destruction and nobody bothered to clean or reconstruct this place?"

Lewis was getting tools out of his trunk while Parker and Adam observed the area.

"What's the situation?", he asked, carrying a box with three shovels, a brush, a magnifying glass, and a jackhammer.

"It doesn't look like this area has been touched in a while. It still looks like the battle just happened," Adam explained.

"Well, at least the cement has been pre-cracked. It'll be a lot easier for me to drill through it. So here's the plan. When I give you the signal, it means that I've dug deep enough to reach the dirt in all areas. That means we can dig through using the shovels. We will search all the areas until I feel we've put in enough effort. You guys got it?"

"Got it."

"What he said," Parker butted in.

With that, Lewis began to violently drill through the concrete road. It took him about ten minutes to perform the task, and as soon as he gave Adam and Parker the signal, they started digging like crazy. After about an hour of digging, nobody found anything. Lewis was about to tell them that he was ready to call it quits but changed his decision before opening his mouth. He wasn't about to give up a task that could determine the fate of the world, especially since there was proof from the task's host himself: a god-forsaken former _Power Ranger,_ for crying out loud. So he decided to have them keep going. Suddenly, Parker began to freak out.

"Guys! I think I found something!", he yelled.

Lewis immediately ran to the location Parker was digging. He spread the dirt out where Parker had stopped using his shovel, and couldn't believe what he saw. There, lying in the dirt, was a large, transparent gray crystal about the size of a soccer ball. When the light from the sun shone on the mysterious object, a rainbow reflected off of it. But it wasn't an ordinary rainbow. This rainbow only contained five colors; red, blue, green, black, and pink. Unbeknownst to them, Lewis, Parker, and Adam had dug up the Cambrian Crystal, which formed from the remnants of the Dino Gems over the 9 years since their destruction. But a mysterious force, the Cambrian Alliance, was secretly keeping track of the location of the crystal, intending to use it for evil purposes.

"Unbelievable!", Lewis said. "What is it?"

"I think we should take it to your place for inspection," Adam said.

But all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, a large army of white, brown-mask-wearing, dreadlocked beasts summoned in the area around them. They were called Zori Demons, and had only one mission: to serve their master...

* * *

A dark, humanoid, reptilian being was watching the entire scene from a screen in his lair. He was slithering with fury as he watched his foot soldiers surround the three humans who had taken what was intended to be his.

"Yesss...Perffecctt...", he hissed in a chilling, beast-like tone. "That's what I want you to do. Take that crysssttall and return it to me..."

* * *

Surrounded, Lewis, Parker, and Adam had no idea what to do.

"Have you dealt with mutants like this before?", Parker asked Adam.

"Sort of. But it's been a pretty long time. Just follow my lead, and we'll make it out unharmed..."

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

_Coming in Part 2:_

_- Valerie, Chris, and Reese introduced_

_- Villain's name, alliance, and origins revealed_

_- Cambrian Crystal's function and attributes revealed_

_- and more..._


	3. Strike of the Beast, Part 2

_EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode is rated T for a serious teenage situation in one of the characters' back-stories. If an episode is rated above K+, a warning like this will appear before the story begins. I'm sorry it's been a while, I've just been going through a lot and I've had writer's block for quite a bit, so it took a little bit longer to write this. But anyways, I hope you enjoy part 2 of the premiere, and thanks for waiting patiently!_

* * *

"Just follow my lead, and we'll make it out unharmed. Stay back, guys! Lewis, don't lose the crystal!"

With that boast of commandment, Adam proceeded to jump into battle. He had no clue what he was fighting; they were unlike any foot soldier he had ever encountered. Unlike the Putties, Tenga Warriors, or any other henchmen he had ever faced, these things actually seemed intimidating. But he wasn't about to tell himself they were as tough as they looked. He envisioned himself as Zeo Ranger IV, remembering his first face-off with the Machine Empire, putting himself in the shoes of his former incarnation. The Cogs were some tough cookies at the time, but Adam still recalled wiping the floor with them.

Reusing some of his old combat tactics, he managed to plow through enough of the Demons to warm himself up. Lewis and Parker were taking cover behind a rusted mini-van. Lewis held onto the crystal as tightly as he could, constantly glimpsing around the corner, watching Adam show off his moves. He had never seen such a graceful fighter before, someone who was so focused and competent even when placed against such an unexpected threat. It was one thing to be asked a favor by a former Power Ranger, but seeing him in action was even more clear proof to Lewis that Adam was not an ordinary martial artist.

Parker, who was observing the battle from the opposite corner, began to notice that Adam was getting outnumbered. The Zori Demons were multiplying rapidly at this point. According to Parker's observations, there had to have been at least 11 of them.

"Looks like he's losing it! Lewis, I think he could use some assistance!", he said.

"What are you thinking? I have no _idea_ how to fight!", Lewis argued.

"Fine! I'm going in myself!"

"Parker! Wait!"

But Parker ignored him. He leaped out from behind the van and began to attack the scaly beings. Adam was still struggling, so he didn't notice Parker join the battle right away. Parker managed to successfully bring down a Demon that had Adam in a chokehold.

"I owe you one! Where's Lewis?", Adam asked as he entered a battle stance.

"I think he's still in cover," Parker replied. "Man, these things are disgusting!"

"Yeah, I don't like 'em. But they just aren't going away! We'll have to keep holding them off until we find some way to get out of here!"

While Parker and Adam continued striving to fight off the creatures, Lewis was still behind cover, unsure of when to escape and praying that none of the creatures spotted him. When he had agreed to help Adam out, this was in no way what he expected to happen. He was looking forward to an opportunity to show what he could do as a paleontologist in training, but no, those stupid reptiles had to drop in and ruin his chance. Now he was hiding from a fight and holding on to a mysterious crystal while his roommate was helping an ex-Power Ranger fight them off.

All of a sudden, one of the Demons came up to Lewis and tried snatching the crystal. With a kick to its face, Lewis prevented it from doing so, and finally realized that the creatures were after it. He retreated to the battlefield and joined Parker and Adam. Lewis was not kidding when he said he had no idea how to fight; he was getting tossed around by the creatures like a basketball. He was beginning to contemplate whether he should have stayed in cover instead. Finally, after about 10 minutes of dodging, Parker and Adam managed to finish off the last of the creatures.

"Wow! Glad that's over!", Parker sighed. "Lewis! If you hadn't intervened, we probably would have finished faster! You do realize that we were protecting you the entire time since you decided to go out in the open, right?"

"Yeah, I get it. Sorry. But one of the creatures came up to me and tried to snatch the crystal! What was I supposed to do? Stay behind the van and let them have it?", Lewis replied.

"He has a point," Adam said. "But regarding the crystal, I have some bad news for both of you. Finding this crystal has changed your life in ways you cannot imagine. The signs just aren't there yet. I've been though enough situations like this to understand what's going on. It's all coming together to me now."

"What are you talking about?", Lewis asked.

"Lewis, we should go back to my place so we can investigate the crystal. I'll explain what I mean when we get there."

* * *

"They have failed me! The cryssstal has finally been found and my soldiers have let it slip through their fingersss!"

The reptilian figure and his crew had watched his minions fall and those three humans escape with the Cambrian Crystal. He had been waiting for 9 years to retrieve the powerful artifact that was once his. It was capable of creating the strongest dinosaur powers known to man, and he wanted to use it to create his own evil Power Rangers. But he was not always a soulless beast, and was more human than anybody who was connected to the desire to use the Morphing Grid for diabolical purposes. Cryptosaur, as he called himself, may have been a sinister being, but it was his own free will that caused him to become the monster he was known as today.

Long ago, a scientist by the name of Dr. William Samson was a researcher of Ancient DNA, and he wanted to find a way to resurrect the dinosaurs using the data from the remains of their fossils. When he extracted the DNA from a Triceratops bone he found in a desert, he attempted to use cloning technology to bring rebirth to the species. He knew that it would be dangerous, but because of his greed and desire to finish anything he started, he went through with it anyways, even though he had been warned numerous times what consequences could come performing such a risky experiment. After several tries, he finally succeeded, in awe at the plant-eating giant he had created. However, it ended up attacking the laboratory and going on a rampage in the city he lived in.

Dr. Samson was sued for his irresponsibility over his creation, being blamed for unleashing the beast allowing it to destruct everything in its path. He had not thought the experiment through before he went through with it, and angered at his ignorance and lack of common sense, he began to enter a long period of self-realization and contemplation. Examining the situation, he began to realize how he himself was blamed rather than the dinosaur itself. It was then that he began to believe that beast was superior to man. Dinosaurs never had to listen to anybody. They had no rules, no guidelines, and could basically live however they wanted. They ate what they felt like. They killed with no mercy and didn't have to worry in the slightest about consequence, payback, anxiety, good or evil. They fought for survival with no limitations or boundaries. At least, that's what he thought.

He was tired of getting pushed around by society and was ready then to show mankind how beast could dominate over any human. Going into a state of insanity, he searched and searched for information on how to combine his DNA with a dinosaur's. He stole an Allosaurus skeleton from a museum and extracted its genetic info. Putting all the pieces together after gathering all the genetic data he could find, he created a chemical which could mutate whoever absorbed it to have dinosaur-like traits. He tested it out on many species, including chickens, cats, and even sharks before finally using it himself. He took a syringe, filled it up, and injected the chemical into his veins.

Then he began to change drastically. He began to grow scales all over his body, his fingernails turned into claws, he grew a tail, the teeth in his mouth became sharp, long, and narrow, and his tongue grew pointy and bruised. After his painful transformation, Dr. Samson could feel how powerful he had become, and was prepared to prove who was the tougher species. He started a villainous organization called the Cambrian Alliance, recruited other mutants, and set out to prove to humans that relying on instinct and savagery would get you further than following rules and other people's views. From that moment on, he was known as Cryptosaur, the leader of his new organization and a merciless, reptilian human killer.

"That cryssstal isss capable of more power than anyone can imagine! And now the bearded one isss going to uncover the sssecret! I cannot let them have it!", he proclaimed. "You! Over here!"

Cryptosaur was talking to his assistant, the fire-powered being Inferno. "Yes, master?", Inferno replied.

"I need you to do me a favor! Capture the paleontologisssst! The one who callsss himself Lewisss!"

"Why, master?"

"Becaussse I sssaid sssso! Now go!"

"Yes, master!"

* * *

Meanwhile, it was a fairly normal day at Angel Grove High. Kids were just finishing up their final class before lunchtime, and they all were heading out to their lockers. A tall, somewhat skinny kid with light brown hair was putting his books in his backpack, about ready to go to lunch. When he put his backpack around his shoulder, he headed out of his classroom and began skateboarding down the hallway. Many people were staring at him.

"Man, Reese O'Brien is so cool! I wish I could skate like that!", a girl walking down the hall said to her friend when she saw him.

Reese skated all the way down to the cafeteria. He decided to show off by grinding on the rails on the small staircase down to the lunchroom, but unfortunately, and slightly hilariously, he tripped and fell right into somebody carrying their lunch. Both of them had gotten covered in french fries, ketchup, pudding, and various other foods. The entire lunchroom stared, and a couple kids started laughing.

"Watch where you're skating, O'Brien!", the kid said.

"I'm sorry! I thought I could pull the trick off!", Reese said insecurely.

Little did Reese know that a teacher had watched him the entire time. Mr. Appleby, the son of former Angel Grove teacher Ms. Appleby, was not happy seeing that Reese had broken school rules by skating in school.

"Reese! How many times do I have to tell you? You can't skateboard in school!", he said, entering the room. "Look at the large mess you made! Clean this up, and come to my office after school."

"Yes, Mr. Appleby...", Reese said.

Reese was the kind of kid who was always getting into trouble, but not because he intended to. He was always craving attention, and sometimes got carried away to get it. Socially, he stood in the middle end of the spectrum. Nobody really hated Reese, but it wasn't like anybody was ashamed to be around him, either. No one really looked down on him, nor looked up to him. But he didn't care. He hadn't even noticed the girl in the hallway compliment his skateboarding. Those who did know Reese knew he was much more adapted to life than most kids his age, though he never played everything cool, but those who didn't know him well almost always misjudged him.

He finished cleaning the mess he made and went to class. When Reese arrived at the office later that day, the principal, known as Ms. Paulsen, decided to have a word with him after Mr. Appleby explained the situation. She was a very stern woman, but she wasn't mean, either.

"Mr. O'Brien," she began. "What has been going on with you lately? I know you've never been the most innocent student, but this is the fourth time this month you've been caught breaking rules."

"I don't know why," he said.

"You don't know why or you don't want to know why? Reese, it's my job to help students out. You aren't in big trouble, I just want to know what's going on, if anything."

Reese stayed silent. The principal, let alone any school staff member, was the last person he wanted to talk about his problems with. _How in the world would she understand?, _he thought. _She probably doesn't even remember being 16. _After about a minute-and-a-half, Ms. Paulsen began to get a little irritated.

"You wouldn't understand, Ms. Paulsen. I don't know how to explain anything to you."

"Okay, I'll tell you what. Since school's out, why don't you go and take a walk or something? Free your mind a little bit. That always helps me. Tell me how you felt tomorrow. I insist."

"Sure, whatever..."

* * *

"BAM! Gimme the chips, boys!"

Contrary to the knowledge of many residents, Angel Grove actually had a casino. It was located at the edge of town near the suburban areas. The atmosphere was not exactly positive, as there were many gamblers, criminals, and misers who polluted the place. But there was one man who went there for only one reason: to take risks and have fun. Chris Granger was just the kind of guy who wanted nothing more than to live his life to the fullest. He had been a star athlete in high school, went hang gliding for the first time at age 12, entered all kinds of competitions, you name it; there was a lot he had done. But what he was best at was using his mind. When he graduated from college, he got a job as a car dealer, using his knowledge of strategy to provide great deals for his customers. However, he ended up quitting when he decided it wasn't his thing. After thinking about it, he realized that he did not have his mind set on one particular thing. So he chose a career as a park ranger and used his free time to open his boundaries more.

Unfortunately, a serious accident caused him to lose his job. One summer day when he was patrolling the park, a group of teenagers were messing around by the lake. Chris assumed they were just having fun, but he had an urge to study them a little bit harder. He had a tendency to overanalyze things, which often led to him getting suspicious of his observations very easily. He walked over to them and asked them if everything was okay, and they said it was fine. But unexpectedly, as soon as he left their sight, he heard somebody screaming "I SAID NO!" at the top of their lungs. He quickly ran back to the lake, and caught a boy red-handed physically abusing a girl. Recalling an event from his own teenage years, he wasn't about to let it happen to anybody else. He went at the boy telling him to knock it off, but he wouldn't stop. Chris had it after that. With all the strength he had, he decided to teach the boy a lesson. However, everything backfired when the boy reported him to the police.

Chris had no proof that the boy was being abusive, so he was considered to get sentenced to jail for physically hurting a minor. Thankfully, one of his co-workers caught the entire thing on video, so Chris was not going to be sent to jail. But rules were rules, and he had to have some kind of consequence, so the head of the park fired him, and he was forced to pay the government a 5,000 dollar fine and perform community service for a month. Ever since then, he had become on the lam, supported only by a part-time job and a small apartment. He eventually got over his guilt, and he moved to Angel Grove shortly after to start a new life. His current job was a newspaper editor, and he often spent his free days playing poker at the casino.

"Nice job, Granger! Man, how do you do it?", his friend Elias, who was watching the game of poker, said.

"It's all up here, baby!", Chris replied, cockily pointing at his brain.

"Man, I wish sometimes that I had your knowledge. Maybe then I wouldn't get smoked every time I play cards!"

"Yeah. But it takes practice, as everything does."

The two of them heartily laughed off the game, and then it got quiet for a little bit.

"Hey, listen. I need to ask you something, man. Nothing big, just a little something", Elias said.

"Ask away, bro.", Chris replied.

"You've only been in town for about a month now, right? Have you ever gotten the chance to see the sights, y'know? I mean, you're always here and we love having you around, but don't you ever consider getting to know the city a little bit better? There's a whole world you haven't tapped into yet. Trust me, I've lived in Angel Grove since I was a child. Interesting things have happened here. Very, very interesting things."

"What are you talking about?"

Elias took an old newspaper out of his bag.

"Read this," he said. "I keep this with me at all times. It reminds me so much of my childhood heroes."

_Probably some rap star or something, yeah right, _Chris thought. _I bet my raps are way better. _But his thought process was suddenly halted when he actually opened up the newspaper. In big bold letters on the front, it said, "POWER RANGERS SAVE THE DAY AGAIN: BLACK RANGER OVERCOMES LIFE-DRAINING MIRROR". Chris couldn't believe what he was reading. Had he really chosen to settle in the city where the Power Rangers had once dwelled and fought many, if not most, of their battles? He turned the page in a rush, to see if he could find anything else. The headlines were all over the place. "TWO BLUE RANGERS SPOTTED IN PARK LAST WEEK", "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE GREEN RANGER?", "RANGERS THOUGHT TO BE MISSING, RETURN IN NEW SUITS", the list went on and on and on.

"Holy...", Chris half-said.

"What'd I tell ya, man? Used to love those guys! I especially looked up to the white one. He was my favorite. I loved his Tigerzord!"

"Them robots? Man, I used to wish I could pilot those all the time!"

"Yeah..." Elias got a little bit quieter. "Unfortunately, once they kept coming and going looking a little different each time, the people of this city were afraid things were really gonna heat up someday. We were right. Turn to the last page. This was the last we had seen of the rangers in Angel Grove."

Chris flipped all the way to the last page, and read the headline, which said, "ONE YEAR SINCE FULL-SCALE ALIEN INVASION HIT ANGEL GROVE: POWER RANGERS NEVER SEEN AGAIN".

"An alien invasion? That's crazy!"

"It is crazy, but it's all too real. Ever since then, our city has been pretty safe. Nobody knows what became of the Power Rangers since. Some say they were destroyed in that large battle to save us. But I have no idea. I just know I loved them and looked up to those guys."

"Yo, check out those two guys in the picture!", Chris replied pointing to the picture in the article. "One of them looks like somebody I've seen around here."

The two guys Chris had pointed out were none other than Bulk and Skull, the comically famous duo known for always interfering with the original rangers' daily lives. He had taken notice of a photo of the heroic standup Bulk had taken when Astronema was searching for the Space Rangers unmorphed forms, just before the invasion had begun. Skull had gotten left behind when Bulk headed to Terra Venture, but when Bulk returned to Earth very recently to watch over Skull's son Spike, he had come back to see Bulk again to pick up his son.

"Hey! I remember that day!", a voice over Chris' shoulder said.

"Whoa!", Chris said, startled. "What are you peering over my shoulder for?"

When he looked up, the figure was none other than Skull himself.

"That was the most heroic I'd ever felt in my life! I claimed I was a ranger, and then another guy claimed he was a ranger, and..." Skull was really getting carried away.

"Sorry to interrupt, man, but I knew I've seen you around! I just never got around to asking your name! My name's Chris."

"Eugene Skullovitch, but you can call me Skull," Skull replied, shaking Chris' hand. "I've seen you around this place too, but only recently. You new in town?"

"Yeah, I just moved here a month ago. So far, I like this city." Chris thought for a second, and decided to ask the question. "So you really knew the Power Rangers?"

"Knew them? Me and Bulk were their schoolmates. Good friends with them. Oh, yeah, I forgot. Bulk is the other fellow in the picture."

"Yeah, I was wondering who you were talking about. Listen, Skull, I gotta get going right now, but you seem like a pretty cool guy. Next time I stop by the casino, we should get to know each other a little better. What do you say? We can talk about more ranger stuff. It's cool to be living in a city that once had them active."

"Sure thing, Chris. You seem pretty cool, too. A little different, perhaps, but still cool."

"Peace!"

After wrapping things up with Skull, Chris said goodbye to Elias, grabbed his bags, and headed towards the exit to the building. After his interactions with them, he was never going to be able to look at his new home the same way again. He was still wondering what happened to the rangers, and where they were today. As he was heading out the door, he quickly turned around, realizing there was something that he forgot to say before he left.

"Skull, wait. I have one last question," he said.

"Ask away," Skull replied.

"Where are the Power Rangers now? What has become of them? Do you know?"

"I know the answer from the source, but that information is classified. Wait and see."

* * *

"...Lewis, what information have you gathered so far?", Parker asked Lewis as he concluded his analysis on the crystal.

"The substance it's made of seems to have come from the fusion of the gems Adam mentioned. Overtime, their remains must have somehow blended together into some completely different source of power. According to my research, it seems like a mix of dinosaur genetics and some kind of ancient energy. But I can't tell exactly what it is," Lewis said.

"You never can," Adam replied. "Whenever I dealt with anything ranger-related, the origins were never revealed to us right away. But that isn't the worst of our problems right now. Those creatures we were ambushed by are not to be taken lightly. In all my years of being a ranger, I don't remember ever facing foes quite like them before. It's only a matter of time before they track us down again."

"What do they want with the crystal?", Parker asked Adam.

"Like I said earlier, I know how to put two and two together. Those things were sent by the leader of some kind of evil alliance. They probably want to use the power of the crystal for an evil purpose. What the purpose is, I don't think we want to find out."

Adam was trying to explain things to Lewis and Parker as knowledgeably as possible for him, but he felt as though there was something he was forgetting to mention about how he felt regarding the situation. Something seemed very different about those creatures to him. He didn't remember Lord Zedd's Z-Putties, Divatox's Piranhatrons, or even the Flurries he fought with the Overdrive Rangers to be anything like them. These new threats seemed a lot hungrier, more strategic, less artificial, and even a little bit human. But knowing that Lewis and Parker couldn't relate to life as a ranger, he wouldn't be able to give a proper explanation or comparison to his earlier adversaries.

"This is too weird..." Lewis said. "Adam, I don't understand. If those..._things _wanted this crystal so badly, why didn't they put more effort against us? You were wiping the floor with those things! And Parker, you actually managed to get past some of them. I don't ever recall seeing you fight before."

"Yeah, he's right. I _haven't _actually resorted to violence before, unless provoked, of course," Parker replied.

"I hate to break it to you two, but those things are not the worst of our problems. They were going easy on us. Next time, I guarantee they'll put up much more of a fight. In my experiences as a ranger, anything that our opponents wanted, they would pay through the nose to get. Whether they succeeded or not was another story. One time, near the end of my time as the Black Ranger, a time vortex turned me and the other rangers into children. We were able to restore ourselves back to our normal ages, but not before our nemeses Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, and Rito Revolto destroyed our base of operations and almost destroyed the Zeo Crystal. They were so close to ending us once and for all. I'm actually pretty lucky to still be here today. What I'm trying to say is that this crystal we have found has made us targets. I think we're gonna have to go through drastic measures in order to protect ourselves. If we don't, then we're completely hopeless," Adam explained.

"Wait, wait!" Lewis replied stubbornly as his emotions changed. "Maybe Parker was right about you. You may be a former Power Ranger, and I'm sure you know everything about their world, too, but seriously. First, you track me down because you claim you need a paleontologist's help. I thought you wanted me to prove my skills with dinosaurs and show off my knowledge, but no, you just wanted me to dig up that stupid area for you! And second, now that we found that crystal, you're telling me that we must 'go through drastic measures' and I'm 'completely hopeless' like you're some kind of fortune teller who knows my future! Well, you know what? I'm not interested in helping you anymore. I'm gone. I gave you all the information I could, and this is what I get?"

Lewis grabbed the crystal. "Deal with those creatures and their alliance yourself. Parker, come on. We're heading back to our apartment."

"Lewis, what has gotten into you?," Parker asked. "You do realize what we've gotten sucked into, right? We can't just walk away from a circumstance like this."

"Why not? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying-"

Parker's speech was cut off by a large banging noise. It seemed to be coming from upstairs, as they were in the basement at the time. Everybody, including Lewis, stopped dead in their tracks.

"Adam, what was that?", Parker timidly asked. "If somebody was knocking on your door, they really need to learn self-control."

"I have no idea," Adam replied. "Lewis, can you go up there and check it out?"

"Fine. I was gonna leave anyway," he said. With that, Lewis went up the stairs and opened the door to Adam's living room. "It's probably not that big of a deal anyway."

"Hold it right there, dino expert!", an evil voice said behind him as he went to the front door.

When Lewis turned around, he saw a seemingly 8-foot tall being with fire surrounding him, teeth like razors, red eyes, and claws. It looked almost as though it was a demon spawned from beneath, except goofier and less intimidating. Not to say that it _wasn't _intimidating, though. Lewis was unable to move his mouth, or any part of his body, for that matter. The being was looking him directly in the eyes, blocking his way past the exit of the room. It was indeed Inferno, Cryptosaur's minion who was sent to capture Lewis.

"Dino expert? How do you know about me? Who are you?"

"I am Inferno, assistant of the evil reptilian overlord Cryptosaur!", Inferno replied. "I'm here to retrieve the Cambrian Crystal! The object that _you _stole from Reefside! Where is it?"

"_I _didn't steal it! I dug it out myself! How could I have stolen something that didn't even belong to anybody? It wasn't even my idea to get it in the first place!"

"I am impressed by your ability to stand up for yourself, human. But I can easily give you multiple reasons to be afraid of me. _PSYCHO BEAM WAVE!_"

Inferno let out a huge ball of fire and hit Lewis directly in the chest. He was sent all the way back down the stairs to Adam's basement. Inferno went down the stairs after him. "I guess the paleontologist is not alone, after all!", he said after seeing Parker and Adam.

"Whoa! Jesus, what is that?", Parker screamed.

"I'm your worst nightmare, kid! Get out of my way before things get more complicated!", Inferno hastily replied.

"Parker, get out of here!", Adam commanded, turning to Inferno. "I knew there was something I didn't like about those creatures! Something tells me you're responsible for them!"

"You couldn't be more right!", Inferno said. "Step aside!"

He pushed Adam out of the way and grabbed the crystal from the table Lewis was examining it on. He started to head back up the stairs.

"Oh, no you don't!", Lewis blurted out.

He got off the ground, did a flip-kick, and knocked Inferno down to the ground. Unfortunately, the crystal was still in Inferno's grasp. Inferno chased Lewis up the stairs to Adam's bedroom. Lewis knew he was inside of somebody else's house, but he didn't care about any property of Adam's he damaged. How else would he defend himself beyond his bare fists? He yanked a mirror off of his wall and hit Inferno over the head with it. It did no good. He was still standing. Lewis had no clue how Inferno managed to fight with only one hand, using the other to carry the crystal. He was not weak, and he wouldn't stop until Lewis was captured. Although he fought as hard as he possibly could, Lewis was eventually defeated. He was being held by the torso in Inferno's left hand, and Inferno put the crystal back in Lewis' hands. He jumped out of the window and dragged Lewis with him. "If you let go of that crystal, I swear I will burn you to a crisp!", he said. By this time, they were both completely out of sight, and Adam and Parker were noticing the noise die down.

Parker was taking cover in Adam's kitchen, while Adam himself was still in the basement. Parker ran down to the basement door and told Adam the coast was clear. He came up the stairs and began to speak.

"Lewis, that thing is gone!", he said. No answer.

"Lewis? You around? Where are you?", Parker asked.

"Lewis!"

"Oh, man! Where could he have possibly gone?"

"I think we should search for him. He could be anywhere. And I hope we find him soon, because I just realized I need him."

"For what?"

"Help on my exams. I don't wanna fail calculus, and he's good at math."

"Really? You're thinking about that _now_? C'mon, Parker, we need to look for him."

* * *

_Just great. That's really nice, _Reese was thinking in his head sarcastically. He couldn't focus on his homework, and he had broken his seventh mechanical pencil trying to write his answers down.

He was thinking back to the incident that had happened at school earlier that day, and the way that Ms. Paulsen had treated him in the office. He absolutely hated it when adults acted like they could understand teenagers, even when they clearly weren't seeing eye to eye with them. His problem wasn't that he loved to cause trouble and break rules, because he was by no means a troublemaker. What his problem really was was that he just didn't care, and nobody really taught him anything. Reese's parents were rarely around because they were both always working, so they never really had any time to teach him right from wrong. Based on his own experiences, he ended up teaching _himself_ the rules of society, though he wasn't always looking at the world the right way. People who didn't know him well believed he was nothing but an attention seeker, somebody who only wanted to impress others for the sake of recognition and popularity. He had never done anything that got him in _deep _trouble, but it was the little things piling up that eventually stressed him out, and it wasn't until Ms. Paulsen asked him what was really wrong that he realized that.

He got up out of his seat and began to bang his fists against his closet. _Why do I do this to myself?, _he asked himself. _Nobody understands how I feel. _After a little bit, his closet opened up, and he saw something on the floor he hadn't seen since he was a little boy. It was an action figure of the original Red Power Ranger that he used to play with in the first grade. "I remember this," he said. He stared at it closely, and he remembered all the stories his father used to tell him about the rangers. He remembered being told of the huge alien invasion and how the Space Rangers eliminated all the threats to Angel Grove that day. He recalled learning about how they never gave up, and always fought until they could fight no more. Reese began to remember how much he wanted to be one of them as a little boy. But he knew it was time to stop living in a fantasy and get back to reality. Suddenly, he began to get a little bit upset.

"Forget it!"

He threw the figure in his garbage can, grabbed his coat, and ran out of his house to the woods. It was a place where Reese felt alone, where nobody would ever bother him. Once he arrived, he began walking down the path looking for a place to rest. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a faint little noise. It was a very unsettling noise, something that sounded almost like it was begging for help. He decided to shrug it off for now, thinking it was just in his head. As he continued walking, however, the noise started to get a little bit louder. After he walked for about a minute, it became clear he was hearing somebody quietly sobbing. Reese followed the sound, and eventually came across a beautifully sad sight.

Behind a tall oak tree, he found himself about a meter away from somebody. A very pretty, somewhat small blonde girl was laying against the tree, burying her face in her lap, quietly crying. She looked really lost, and Reese couldn't help but feel remorse for her. She appeared to be young, but seemed to be a little bit older than Reese was, maybe around 17 or 18. In fact, Reese began to get a feeling he had seen her before somewhere. Reese decided to try initiating a conversation.

"Hey. You okay?", Reese asked.

"Who are you?", she hesitantly asked, quickly lifting her head up. "What do you want from me, kid?"

"Whoa, easy. You just seem a little down, and I wanna know if you're feeling okay. I was taking a walk, and I heard your small cries, and I was just wondering what was going on. Also, have we met before?"

"Maybe we have," the girl replied after studying his face a little bit. "But it's really n-none of your business how I'm feeling, is it?"

"Sorry. I-I didn't mean to approach you the wrong way or anything like that, I just think you look like you could use someone to talk to."

"Well, now that you put it that way, I have been feeling like I need someone lately. Thanks for reaching out. I'm Valerie. What's your name?"

"I'm Reese. It's nice to meet you."

* * *

"Seriously, what is your problem, you overgrown dragon?"

Lewis was now being carried through the woods by Inferno. The path seemed to go on forever.

"I don't have a problem! It's you pesky humans that are my problem!", Inferno said. He snapped his fingers, summoning his henchmen. "Zori Demons, patrol the west side of the woods. I don't want any intruders coming anywhere near our base of operations!"

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

_Coming in Part 3:_

_- All main characters meet_

_- Villain's base of operations finally seen in full_

_- Paleo Powers are created_

_- Rangers receive powers_

_- And more..._


	4. Strike of the Beast, Part 3

_DITOR'S NOTE: Due to a flashback of Chris' situation, this episode is also T just to be safe. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chris headed back to his house on foot after leaving the casino. He didn't usually use his car because he had no well-paying job at the moment and couldn't pay for gas money. He was contemplating what path he was going to take, since his house was located in an isolated area in town. When he first moved to Angel Grove, the only thing he really expected from his new life was a new city, new people, and a new atmosphere. And in some ways, he was right. He had made new friends at the casino, got several part-time jobs, and had actually won some money gambling. Sometimes taking risks really paid off for him. But after he learned from Elias about the Power Rangers' presence in the city, he began to wonder what crazy things were in store for the future, if at all.

As he walked, he ended up at the path to the woods. He decided to take the route. Luckily, he chose the east side...

* * *

"It's nice to meet you, too."

Valerie was indeed older than Reese, as he guessed. She was 17, almost 18, and a senior at Angel Grove High. Valerie lived in Angel Grove for her entire life, but she never knew anything about the Power Rangers, because she was barely out of infancy when they disappeared from the city, and was too young to understand anything that was going on. As she progressed through school, the only thing she cared about was her future. But she was concerned about it because she was actually very scared of how her life would turn out.

Her parents always expected a lot from her, and sometimes Valerie would get overwhelmed. The older she got, the further apart she seemed to drift away from her family. Ever since she started high school, she had begun doing things on her own, almost isolating herself from the people in her home. Her friends were always getting caught up in typical social situations, and she did her best to stay out of it, although sometimes she ended up getting pulled in anyway. She always hated the pressure, drama, discipline, and emotional ups-and-downs of being a girl her age, and often felt like she was lost, and had nowhere to go, almost as though she were the only one who felt that way. She often expressed herself by writing song lyrics and playing drums in her local metal band, but sadly, it didn't always work for her. When it didn't, there were times she felt there was nothing to do but shield herself from the world and let her feelings out. For her, this was one of those times.

"So, what are you doing out in the woods by yourself?", Reese asked.

Valerie thought a little before answering. "I go here when I feel like I have nowhere else to go. When I get fed up with my life and want to escape from everything, I find a peaceful spot in these dark woods. Lately I've been feeling so down and mixed up, almost like I don't know what to feel."

"I understand. Sometimes I do things, and...I don't even know why I do them. Most of the time they're little things, but they just keep piling up until a bigger mess is created. And I always tell myself that I don't want to be like that anymore, but I can't seem to do what it takes to change."

Neither Reese nor Valerie could believe how fast they were opening up to each other. They had only just met about 5 minutes prior, but they were already relating to each other. But both of them started to think they were getting ahead of themselves. Valerie was the first one to speak up about it.

"Sorry, I think I'm getting ahead of myself. It's just that nobody who passes me by when I'm out here ever seems to care or wonder why they see a girl trying to find some space, you know what I'm saying? So Reese, do you go to Angel Grove High?", she asked.

"Yeah, I do. You too? I thought I've seen you in the hallways before. I hope you didn't see my ridiculous skateboard stunt I pulled during lunchtime. I ran into a kid and got food all over me."

"No, I didn't. I had to work on some homework during lunch. But wow! That must have been really embarrassing!"

"It could have been worse. But then I got called to the office after school. I couldn't tell Ms. Paulsen anything. I highly doubt she can even relate to teenagers, but actually, secretly I don't like her very much."

"Me, either! Freshman year, she was _always _trying to get in my business. Nowadays she doesn't really pay attention to me because I'm a senior now, but seriously, it's almost like she handpicks who deserves to get in trouble and who doesn't. She's so bad at her job she needs excuses to do it! Some principal she is, trying to act as a guidance counselor to everybody. But whatever, it's not like I gotta worry about her anymore."

The two teens shared a 10-second laugh before one of them spoke again. They both couldn't agree more with each other.

"You seem like a pretty cool kid, Reese. Normally I don't like being disturbed out here, but I'm glad we met. Like I said earlier, it was really nice of you to reach out," Valerie said sincerely. "I feel a little better now that I got someone to talk to."

"Thanks, Valerie. You seem like a great girl, too. Well, I mean..I'm not a girl, but it's weird if I call you kid as well..."

"It's fine. I know what you're saying."

"You mind if I stick with you a little bit?"

"Sure, why not?"

The two new friends sat together, admiring the peace of the woods. Each one of them felt like they had, at least temporarily, found somebody they could speak to.

"Hey, what are you kids doing out here in the woods so late?", a very loud and demanding voice said.

Chris was standing in their area, feeling alarmed seeing two teenagers, one boy and one girl, sitting together. He still hadn't fully recovered from his situation in high school nor his getting fired from being a park ranger due to taking action, and seeing Valerie and Reese together made him worry something bad was going to happen. He may have been coming off as mean, abrasive, and unexpected in his approach to them, but at the moment he didn't realize it.

Valerie and Reese, especially the former, were intimidated by him. Though he wasn't very tall, shorter than Reese in fact, he had a face that meant business, and looked like he could easily lay down some rules. He looked young but very experienced, and Valerie had a feeling he was just snooping. What business did he have approaching them like that? Reese decided to get up and say something.

"You know what, sir? That isn't any of your business. A grown man doesn't have any reason to interfere with other people's lives. How can you possibly approach us that way? What is your problem? And who are you?", he said. Valerie was cowering, afraid Chris was going to do something to them.

"First off, kid, my name is Chris, and I happen to be a former park ranger. It used to be my job to patrol recreational areas like this. And I'm strolling down these woods, trying to get home, and I see you with this girl alone, with nobody else around. Care to explain the reasoning behind that? I feel that as one with that kind of authority, and one who has witnessed bad happenings involving this kind of thing, I have the right to know!" Chris replied, perhaps a little too angrily.

"I saw her while walking around, and it looked like something was wrong. I talked to her, and we got acquainted. That's it. I swear."

"Oh, really? Then why do you sound so guilty? Tell me!"

"Because you sound like you just witnessed a murder! You're being so uptight and aggressive! Yes, I know I'm trying to overpower a more experienced member of society, but just listen for a second. If you had approached us a little differently, I promise you I would explain things better. But it's kind of hard to talk with a straight tone of voice when you sound like you're interrogating us!"

Valerie was still scared, and couldn't come up with anything to say. She felt bad that Reese was getting called out by Chris, but she had no idea how to stand up for her new friend...

* * *

"Ah, man! He's not here, either!"

Parker and Adam had been searching for Lewis all evening, but they simply had no luck. They had just returned to Parker and Lewis' dorm room, but he was nowhere in sight. They walked back out on campus, and Parker decided to search around a little bit for clues. He found some rather large footprints in a trail leading to the west side of the woods.

"Adam! Over here," Parker said, signaling him to come to his spot. "Look at these! You think that monster may have gone this way?"

"I think so," Adam replied. "Let's follow the trail. Hopefully we don't run into anything bad on the way."

With that, they headed into the woods.

* * *

"Sir, he's innocent. Really, he is. Please, please calm down!", Valerie finally said, trembling.

Chris all of a sudden got a remorseful look on his face. He couldn't say anything now, as he showed disbelief in his behavior. The memories of his high school life began coming back to him...

FLASHBACK:

_9 years ago, walking down the parking lot of his school, a young Chris was heading over to his car to drive home. Of course, his car was very rusty and old, but it was the best he could afford. Chris came from a poor suburban family, and didn't have much money to his name. But that didn't matter to him. He was looking forward to coming home that Friday. He had had a long week and was ready to relax. As he approached his vehicle, however, he noticed his friend Allie in her car. She was with her boyfriend in the car, and he did not look happy at all. The windows were down, and Chris could hear them arguing rather loudly. There was nobody in their area but them, so he decided to stealthily observe, as he was concerned for her safety._

_He couldn't make out what they were saying, but Allie looked scared and defensive. But Chris was about to be in for the saddest moment of his life. Everything began to escalate, and Allie's boyfriend struck her hard across her face three times. The boyfriend exited the car right away and strutted off angrily. Chris had no idea what to do. The thing that scared him most was how Allie was in such shock that she didn't cry out for help at all and remained silent until he left. She lifted up her head and started screaming. Her screams pierced his ears, and the bruises on her cheeks made him almost feel her pain..._

PRESENT DAY:

"_..._Hey, buddy. You alright? Something happen?"

The voice of Parker could be heard as Chris was down on his knees. He and Adam were still following the trail of Inferno's footprints, and they came across Chris, Valerie, and Reese in their area of the woods. They were going to originally keep going, but they knew something was wrong when Chris started to get lost in regretful memories and come close to collapsing. While Parker was helping Chris out, Adam went over to Valerie and Reese.

"Are you kids okay? What happened?", he asked them.

"Well," Reese explained pointing to Valerie, "me and my new friend here were just sitting out here enjoying the night for a little bit, and this guy, apparently a former park ranger, comes up to us and angrily accuses me of being up to something! I tried to tell him I was fine, but he kept it up! I mean, really? What is his problem? Leaving Valerie here scared like that!"

"Is this true?", Adam asked looking at Chris.

"Yes..." Chris replied sheepishly. He may have been an adult, but Adam was still his superior, and he dared not question him. "I'm sorry about that, kids, I just...I had a terrible experience involving this kind of thing before, and it's always been so hard for me to forget about it. I really didn't mean to scare you guys, I was just making sure everything was okay."

"What kind of thing?", Valerie asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it. It's pretty serious."

Chris tried his best to sound calm, and it worked.

"We understand," Reese said. "So, your name is Chris, huh? My name is Reese. This is Valerie. We, um, just met today."

"Nice to meet you two. And thanks for helping me, man," he continued, looking at Parker.

"What are you two doing out here?" Valerie asked Adam and Parker.

"We're looking for our friend," Parker began. "He's somehow gone missing, and we're following the trail of who, or what, we think may have taken him."

"How did he go missing?"

"Before we tell you, you guys have to promise me you'll keep it a secret. You aren't gonna believe this, but here it goes," Adam said.

Adam reached into his pocket and took out his old Power Morpher. Parker, as he obviously had already seen it, was not shocked, but the remaining three couldn't believe what they were seeing. There in his hands was the very device of the former Black Ranger. Chris in particular was in total awe at the sight. He was beginning to remember something, as his mind was finally going back to reality. He had just recalled that he forgot to return the newspapers to Elias. But at that moment, it didn't matter to him. He took out the article about the Black Ranger and the mirror, and showed it to Adam.

"This...this was you?", he asked, pointing to the headline photo.

"Yes, it was," he said. "I haven't used my powers in a while, but..."

"Wow! That's so cool!", Reese said. "What are your names, by the way? We forgot to ask that."

"I'm Adam. And this is Parker."

"I'm Reese, and this is Valerie."

Valerie waved. Parker hadn't gotten a good look at Valerie, but once he finally did, he began to notice how beautiful she was. Never in his life had he seen a girl like her before. Adam had to tap his shoulder before he would answer his question. "Parker? You in there? You ready to find Lewis?", he asked him.

"Yeah!", Parker replied. "Hey, if you guys wanna tag along, you can!"

"Sure!", Reese said.

"Totally!", Valerie chimed in.

"Right behind ya!," Chris answered.

And with that, the four of them set out to find Lewis.

"Wait a minute," Valerie said to Adam as they started getting back on the track of the footprints. "What did that device have to do with your friend disappearing?"

"A monster took him, and me being a superhero is the only way I could convince you that was true," he replied. "Haven't seen action in a while, so I'm gonna need all the help I can get."

* * *

"I have him, master! Just like you said!"

Lewis was dropped down on the floor of Cryptosaur's lair. The area was located in a giant cave deep in the woods, in an isolated area where no normal human being ever dared to lurk. The walls were covered in muck and scum, the floor was organic and rusty, and there were devices everywhere. Test tubes, strangulation chairs, TV screens, you name it; the place looked like everything a villain's lair should have been and more. Cryptosaur turned around in his throne, and walked up to Lewis, and perhaps got a little bit too close.

"Lewisss...the expert on prehistoric life...How perfect!", he said. He snatched the crystal from Lewis' hands and placed it on a mantle.

"I have never sseen sssuch glory in the palm of my handss. You fool! You realize what a sservice you have done for me by retrieving thisss powerful artifact? You humansss have no instinct, do you? You were far too excited and determined to think twice about putting up a fight with my foot soldiersss. If you had not persssevered, you wouldn't _be _here all tied up and worthlessss, and that crystal would have been mine sssooner! You were in my way!"

"If there's one thing you do _not _wanna call me, it's worthless!", Lewis defensively stated. "Who are you?"

"I am Cryptosaur! Reptilian, carnivorous, and fierce!"

"You supposed to be the leader? Then why'd you send that Inferno guy to do your dirty work? Can't do it yourself?"

"You are a sstubborn one, Lewisss! I hate it when they get like that!"

"What do you want with that crystal?"

"For yearssss, I have been trying to track down that source of power. But I was never able to find it, because no human ever put in the effort to dig it out! 9 years ago, when the Dino Gems were destroyed, I knew, I simply knew there wasss sstill something remaining there! Who knew would kind of power would form overtime? And you foolish little determinator actually led me to it! My henchmen may have failed to get it before you, so I sshould thank you, but ssadly, I cannot. Inferno! Activate the electric chair!"

"Yes, master!", Inferno replied.

Lewis was picked up again and strapped in a chair. He couldn't move his hands or feet; they were handcuffed.

"Is it time, master?"

"Yesss...do it!"

Lewis couldn't believe what he was observing with his own eyes. The mantle in which the Cambrian Crystal was placed on was all of a sudden being handled by Inferno. He used his eyes to melt the crystal into a silver, electrified liquid, which traveled through 5 small tubes hidden beneath the mantle. But what was really strange was what was on the other end of the tubes. Each tube was connected to a large stored battery, each one a different color. When the melted crystal finally reached the end of the tubes, each of the batteries glowed and their design became visible. One was red, another was blue, the one in the middle was black, and the other two were green and pink. _The light!, _Lewis thought. _The light from the crystal when we first found it! The colors match!_

Inferno got out the batteries, and placed each one in a unique wrist-worn device. Even stranger was that each one had a design corresponding to the color. The red device looked like a tyrannosaurus, the blue device looked like a stegosaurus, the black device looked like a parasaurolophus, the green device looked like a velociraptor, and the pink device looked like a triceratops. _This is too weird, _Lewis thought. But as strange as he found his situation, he couldn't help but think there was something bigger he had no clue about. Unbeknownst to Lewis, Inferno had created the Strike Morphers, the transformation devices for his supposed evil team of Power Rangers.

Inferno encased each morpher in a small organic box, and came up to Cryptosaur.

"They are ready, master!," he said to him.

"Ah, yesss...", Cryptosaur sinisterly hissed. "Your time is up, Lewis Hamilton! You've sserved your purposse! Now, you're done!"

Lewis was trembling now. He had no idea what was going to happen to him next...

* * *

Meanwhile, Adam, Chris, Parker, Reese, and Valerie were still following the trail, getting closer to Cryptosaur's cave. Parker stuck with the other two teens, and Adam stuck with Chris.

"So, let me get this straight? There were more Power Rangers out there in other parts of the country?", Chris asked Adam.

"Yeah. There was a museum made of the spaceship for the last team of rangers. But all of a sudden, it was taken away one day. Guess what happened to it? It was taken by another team of Power Rangers. The Galaxy Rangers," Adam said,

"Rangers from another planet? Man!"

"Yep. In fact, the last time I was in action as a ranger was 6 years ago. You see, there was an organization called Operation Overdrive, which had their own team of Power Rangers. Thrax, the son of Rita Repulsa and Zedd, the two villains responsible for threatening me and the other rangers, took away the Overdrive Rangers' powers. Me and four other rangers were called upon to take their place until they could get their powers back. Once they did, I defeated Thrax and returned here to Angel Grove. I started a local dojo on Angel Grove University's campus, and since then I've been living a pretty much normal life. But today, it looks like things are about to get more complicated."

The teens were talking social stuff, and Parker was eager to learn more about Valerie, even though Valerie was asking him all the questions.

"Where did you go before you moved here to start college?," Valerie asked Parker.

"I lived in Michigan with my stepdad. I decided to come here to Angel Grove because I wanted to go someplace with consistent weather. That, and I needed to get away," he replied.

"That's awesome! What do you do for fun? How do you like it here?"

"Usually I..."

"Whoa! Where are we?", Reese interrupted.

The five had reached the end of their path. In front of them was the large cave in which Cryptosaur dwelled. The footprints had ended.

"Well, looks like we should..."

"Reese, watch out!", Adam yelled.

The Zori Demons were back. This time, there was more of them than before. When Inferno sent them to patrol the west side of the woods, they had not seen any threats until just then. So they were giving it their all.

"Man, not these things again!", Parker said.

The five fought as best as they could to survive the battle. But they kept multiplying, and they needed to step their game up and find Lewis.

"I think Lewis is in that cave!", Adam screamed. "Reese, Parker, Valerie! Go in there and find Lewis! Chris, you stay with me! I think we can keep fending these guys off! We'll get inside later!"

The teens nodded and ran inside the cave while Chris stayed behind. Once the Demons were defeated, Adam and Chris ran in the cave as well.

* * *

"What are you gonna do to me?", Lewis hesitantly yelled. "What are you gonna do with those things?"

"Once we get rid of you, those things will serve as the power source for our Demons to become an evil force of Power Rangers!", Inferno said.

"What? Since when were Power Rangers evil?"

"You obviously have no idea of the history of those heroes. There were evil rangers all the time! But they always failed! And our team will not fail. Because we have the knowledge and the power, thanks to you..."

A huge satellite ray was pointed towards Lewis. He was now both scared and spitting mad at the same time. Those beasts were treating him like a completely useless tool, like they were more interested in mocking him than they were getting rid of him. But he was scared because he knew deep down they were stalling to get him fed up before they put him in an altered state, not simply poking fun at him. _Adam was right, _he thought. _What _have _I got myself into?_

"Why do you keep pointing out how weak you think I am?" Lewis violently asked. "What business do you have trying to kill me? I haven't done anything to you! That crystal, or whatever you call it, wasn't intended to be mine anyway! What _are_ you carnivorous beasts trying to gain out of interrogating me? So what, I got your stupid power source! That wasn't my fault at all! What do you know about me? Nothing! So you know what? You know what? Go ahead and do your worst! You won't get anything out of it! I can TAKE IT!"

Inferno pointed the ray at Lewis, but was interrupted just when he was about to fire it.

"LEWIS!"

The familiar voice of Parker and Adam flowed through Lewis' ears. They, Valerie, Reese, and Chris quickly ran towards him. Adam kicked Inferno out of the way, knocking him towards the ground. Chris and Reese managed to free Lewis from his capture. Lewis helped Adam fight off Inferno, while Valerie and Parker were getting faced by Cryptosaur.

"What are you humansss doing in my territory?", he yelled.

"Ew! What _is _that thing?" Valerie asked.

"Beats me!", Parker replied. "But he's pretty creepy!"

"Adam! Grab that box!", Lewis said, pointing to the box of morphers while holding off Inferno some more.

"Why? What's so important about it?", Adam asked.

"Just grab it!"

After fighting their way past the two of them, the six of them escaped with the morphers. They ran out of the cave and back into the woods.

"What is the matter with you! You let them esscape!", Cryptosaur roared.

"What are you talking about?", Inferno replied. "At least we still have the...wait!"

It took them a few minutes, but the villains had finally taken notice of the fact that the morphers were gone.

"NNOOOOOOO!"

* * *

The six each found a secure spot in the woods while still remaining in sight of each other and settled down, catching their breath. Adam was in complete shock at their new threat. Never in his years as a ranger did he ever face such an opponent as Inferno. When he first encountered the Demons at the site where Mesogog was destroyed, he knew for sure there was something different about them, and their leaders were no different. He knew that this new alliance was a threat that would not go down easily. He had no clue what these foes' plots were, but he knew that they had to find out soon. He decided to open up the box that the villains had in their lair that Lewis told him to grab. When he popped off the lock, he noticed the five morphers perfectly set up in their place. He called Lewis over to talk to him.

"What is it?", he asked.

"Lewis, you do know what these things are, right?", Adam asked.

"I do. I saw them being created from the energy from the crystal. Inferno melted it, and the melted crystal remains powered up these batteries, and then..."

But Adam was no longer listening. He was now in a state of mind he couldn't get out of. He looked at the morphers in the box and realized what he was to do. He gathered up the rest of the six and brought them to the middle of their area of the woods. He began to lecture them, and something was about to go down.

"Listen carefully, guys. I know I've only just met some of you, but what you guys saw tonight is no laughing matter. I'm afraid you all have been put in a situation that will change your lives forever. As I told all of you already, I was once a Power Ranger. I fought through more threats than you can count, battled numerous adversaries, you name it. But I have never seen anything quite like those things. What you saw tonight, you must not have expected. I get it. But as the only witnesses to those monsters, I think you guys are the only ones who can fight for this city. As unbelievable as this may sound..." Adam opened the box of morphers, and pushed it closer to them. "you guys are the only hope for this city. Take these. I trust you. It's time for me to step up and recruit a new team of rangers. We can't let these fall into the wrong hands."

"Valerie. You will become the Pink Ranger, possessing the power of the Triceratops."

"Chris. You will become the Blue Ranger, possessing the power of the Stegosaurus."

"Parker. You will become the Black Ranger, possessing the power of the Parasaurolophus."

"Reese. You will become the Green Ranger, possessing the power of the Velociraptor."

"And Lewis. You will serve as the leader of this team. You are now the Red Ranger, possessing the power of the Tyrannosaurus."

Each individual grabbed their morpher and wrapped it around their wrist. None of them could believe what was going on. They had just been called to be Power Rangers! But each of them shared a different type of disbelief. Lewis in particular couldn't believe he had been asked to be the leader. He was the one who got them into this mess in the first place, and he had no idea how to lead a team. If he couldn't even stand up to his bullies in high school, how did Adam expect him to lead a team of superheroes?

"Adam, I don't think I can do this," Lewis said. "I don't know how to be a leader! Why me? Why didn't you make Parker the leader? He's much better with people than I am! And he knows that! I'm a total goof! You saw me out there when we first got the crystal! I was getting tossed around!"

"Lewis, there is one thing I don't think you know about being a ranger. No matter how powerful you are, the powers in the morpher will enhance you greatly. Once you transform, you will be able to do things you weren't able to do before. That goes for all of you, too."

"I don't care what Lewis thinks, I am SO in!", Chris said, sounding a little immature. "I've always loved the Power Rangers, and now I get to become one!"

"Of course you don't care what I think! I don't even know you!", Lewis replied. He didn't mean to sound like that, but he was so stressed out with being chosen as leader that he didn't care about watching his tone.

"Well, I'm in as well," Parker said. "What can I say? I would love to fight evil!"

"I'm in too," Reese chimed in. "Even though I'm not a fan of green."

"This is cool," Valerie said, "But I'm not so sure about it. I guess I'll try."

"Sorry Lewis, looks like you're out-numbered," Adam said.

"What? You kidding me?", he said.

Suddenly, more of the Demons popped up. They were getting tossed around again, but Adam wasn't doing anything. He was waiting for their big moment.

"Adam! How the heck do you work these things?", Lewis yelled. "Is there some kind of code or something?"

"I did some analysis when I first got the box, and all you have to do is say "Paleo Strike, Activate!", and you'll be transformed! Make sure to press down on the morpher! Once you use the morpher, the powers it holds will be bonded to you!", he replied.

"Oh, well, here goes nothing..."

Lewis put the battery in the mouth of the morpher.

"Paleo Strike! Activate!"

Then it happened. After a flash of blinding light, Lewis was transformed, becoming the first Strike Ranger to officially morph. On his body was a powerful red suit with a holster containing a gun/sword, a sinister Tyrannosaurus-esque helmet, and the powers of the inner beast within him. Lewis felt like he had just gotten a huge boost of energy, and suddenly felt as though he could cut through anything and eliminate any threat thrown at him. The others hadn't morphed yet, but they saw Lewis as he suited up.

"Lewis?", Parker asked while pinned down. The others continued to look at his suited form.

Lewis felt so re-energized and powerful. "Stay back, guys," he proclaimed.

He proceeded to wipe out the Demons with his strength, using his new powers to his advantage. He had never felt so unstoppable in his entire life.

"This is too easy!"

"Lewis, call for your weapon!", Adam said.

"You got it! Strike Revolver, engage!"

A battery-powered revolver gun appeared in his hands. _Wow, so this is what it's like to be a Power Ranger, _Lewis thought. He blasted his way through his enemies, but the others were still getting tossed around.

"Guys! Just do as I did to transform! It'll be fine!", Lewis said to the others. "Just insert the battery in the mouth of your morpher and use the same call that I did!"

The others got up off the ground. Chris led the roll call.

"Well, what are we waiting for?", Chris asked.

"Paleo Strike! Activate!", all four of the unmorphed rangers called.

Just like that, all four of them were transformed.

"Oh, man!", Chris exclaimed. "This is crazy! I'm a Power Ranger!"

"I feel indestructible!", Parker chimed.

"This is so sick!", Reese said. "Check me out! I don't look bad in green, after all!"

"Sweet! Right on!", Valerie piped in. "Let's do this!"

At this point, all five rangers were suited up and ready to battle. They called for their guns as well, and joined Lewis. The Demons were going down without putting up much of a fight; they had not seen the arrival of new rangers coming. Adam stood behind an oak tree as he watched his new team of Power Rangers kick butt, feeling the sensation of their powers for the first time. He was beginning to think he had made a good choice putting the morphers in their hands. And as for Lewis, those morphers would have been in the hands of Cryptosaur if it wasn't for him. No matter what he said, Adam did not regret choosing him as leader.

Eventually, the rangers destroyed their enemies, and met back with Adam.

"Excellent work, rangers," he said. "but I'm afraid it won't always be this easy. I need you all to meet me at my place so I can say something important to you regarding your new duties. Lewis, Parker, you can show your new friends the way there. And before you ask, I can't just tell you now because we might await another ambush."

"I think we should do what he says," Reese said. "Anything to keep doing this! That was awesome!"

"You can say that again, kid!", Chris replied. "Again, sorry for coming at you earlier."

"Whatever! That doesn't even matter to me anymore! We're Power Rangers!"

"Before we go, I have a question," Lewis asked Adam.

"What is it?", he replied.

"How do we get out of these suits?"

"Easy, just say..."

* * *

"REALLY? Inferno, WHAT do you make of thisss?"

The villains were watching the entire fight on their viewing globe, and were in complete anger at how the morphers had been taken and used for purposes besides what they intended. They were furious.

"We need to take drastic measures, master!", Inferno replied. "Why don't we awaken the rest of our minions? If we need to stop those pesky Power Rangers, we need more members of our alliance! Just you and me...well, we're powerless against them! You saw how fast they escaped us!"

"That idea is brilliant! But we need to expand our plan! Give those rangersss a fight they won't ever forget! They have no knowledge of how beassst triumphs over man! Those humanss are weak! They have have those powersss we created, but we still have the better inssstinct and predatory actionsss!", Cryptosaur boasted. "Inferno! Summon the Cambrian Alliance!"

"As you command!"

Inferno headed to a seemingly absent area in the lair, a place that contained the spirits of the fallen beasts gathered by Cryptosaur. A large crack in the cave walls burst open, revealing an area featuring numerous fossils, each containing the soul of fallen prehistoric creatures, dinosaur or otherwise. The fossils were gathered while Cryptosaur was still in the body of Dr. Samson; originally, he had planned to look deeper into other dinosaurs to decide which he wanted to resurrect in the present day before he went with a triceratops. But he was too lazy to take time to examine every single fossil he gathered, so he put them on hold. After he lost everything once he became Cryptosaur, he sucked the soul out of the DNA of the fossils, and reprogrammed them to be held in captivity until they were needed. He eventually combined various traits from the genetic information to create the spirit of many monstrous beings. Now that he and Inferno's clan officially had enemies, it was time for him to finally unleash his creations.

"Which one should I pick first?", Inferno asked.

"Unleash the Beast of Water!", Cryptosaur commanded.

Inferno grabbed a trilobite fossil and an ancient piranha fossil and inserted them on the same mantle the Cambrian Crystal was placed on earlier to create the ranger powers. But this time, the tubes led to a chamber filled with poisonous gas. Indeed, the chamber was where the resurrected creatures emerged in the lair. As the smoke cleared, an aquatic, feminine beast was revealed. She had navy-colored humanoid lips, sky blue evil eyes, and a rough exoskeleton covering her entire back and upper torso. She had fin-like ears, sharp claws, and a face that looked like it would scare a child; cracked, blue, and demonic in nature. She looked like a creature who would devour even the strongest of her opponents. Her name was Sapphireia.

"Welcome, Sapphireia!"

* * *

At Adam's house, the five rangers were sitting on Adam's couch in his living room. Adam had asked them to borrow their morphers for a few minutes to add a tweak to them that he believed would help. After quite a few minutes, he came back and gave each of them back their morphers.

"I've installed communicators into each of your morphers. That way, you can stay in contact with each other at all times whenever needed. Now, listen carefully. I know you are all probably really confused right now. I understand how sudden this may feel to you, how much responsibility has been put in your hands. But don't worry, I was in your shoes once, and everything ended up moving forward in the end. We don't know what those guys want, but our job is to find out and keep defending ourselves. As I said before, as the only witnesses to the events tonight, I feel like I can trust you guys. You must tell nobody about what happened tonight. Do you understand?", Adam said.

The rangers all nodded.

"Good. One more thing. Don't let your identities slip if you can. Be sly. I know you're all new to this, and you have much to learn. I'll be your guide through this whole thing. I promise you, everything will work out. For now, just try to stay on the lookout for any threats while you're out. And remember, try to keep your identity secret. So nobody can see your morpher, you can press the button on the back. They'll transform into bracelets. Press it again whenever you need them. Just follow those rules. Don't forget to stay alert. Remember, you're a team. As long as you guys are prepared for the heads up, no one can defeat you..."

* * *

_End of Episode 1:_

_Coming Soon: The real story begins..._

_Next Episode: Danger Line:_

_- Rangers receive Zords_

_- More villains_

_- And more..._


End file.
